Amazons Are Back: Absence of Males in a Praying Mantis from Uruguayan Savannas.

With a broad distribution throughout South America, Brunneria subaptera (Saussure) (Coptopterygidae) is the most abundant praying mantis species in Uruguay, mostly associated with grassland vegetation. Their body coloration can vary between green or brown sepia. The recent catalog of Uruguayan mantids showed that all specimens of B.

Reproductive diapause influences spermatogenesis and testes' size in the diplochronous wolf spider Allocosa senex (Lycosidae, Araneae) - A case study using a non-experimental approach.

Seasonality considerably impacts on the life of organisms and leads to numerous evolutionary adaptations. Some species face seasonal changes by entering a diapause during different life stages. During adulthood, a diapause in the non-reproductive period can affect male gametogenesis as, for example, it occurs in insects.

Challenging monogamy in a spider with nontraditional sexual behavior.

Each species and sex can develop different reproductive strategies to optimize their fitness while assigning reproductive effort. Allocosa senex is a sex-role reversed spider whose males construct long burrows in the sand. They wait for wandering females to approach, assess their sexual partners and donate their constructions to females after copulation.

Size matters: Antagonistic effects of body size on courtship and digging in a wolf spider with non-traditional sex roles.

Body size, nuptial gift characteristics and courtship behaviour, among other traits, can reflect the quality of a potential mate and, thus, might be under sexual selection. To maximize their mating success, individuals can show behavioural plasticity in sexual context. Allocosa senex is a burrow-digging wolf spider that exhibits reversal in courtship roles and in sexual size-dimorphism expected for spiders.

Sex and burrowing behavior and their implications with lytic activity in the sand-dwelling spider Allocosa senex.

The immune response can be costly. Studies in several arthropod species have indicated a trade-off between immunity and other life-history traits, including reproduction. In sexually dimorphic species in which females and males largely differ in their life history strategies and related energetic demands, we can expect to find sex differences in immune functions.

No pain, no gain: Male plasticity in burrow digging according to female rejection in a sand-dwelling wolf spider.

Behavioral plasticity allows individuals to reversibly respond to short-term variations in their ecological and social environment in order to maximize their fitness. Allocosa senex is a burrow-digging spider that inhabits the sandy coasts of South America. This species shows a reversal in typical sex roles expected in spiders: females are wanderers that visit males at their burrows and initiate courtship.

Geographical variation in sexual behavior and body traits in a sex role reversed wolf spider.

Mating partners need to recognize, assess each other, and exchange information through behavioral events that occur before, during, and after mating. Sexual signals, as well as life history traits, are influenced by selective pressures and environmental factors that can vary across distant geographical areas. Allocosa senex is a sand-dwelling wolf spider which constructs burrows along the sandy coasts of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay.

Communication during copulation in the sex-role reversed wolf spider Allocosa brasiliensis: Female shakes for soliciting new ejaculations?

Traditional studies on sexual communication have focused on the exchange of signals during courtship. However, communication between the sexes can also occur during or after copulation. Allocosa brasiliensis is a wolf spider that shows a reversal in typical sex roles and of the usual sexual size dimorphism expected for spiders.

Sexual dimorphism in immune response, fat reserves and muscle mass in a sex role reversed spider.

In sex role reversed species, females and males adopt behaviors that are not the traditional ones for that animal group. Furthermore, this reversal can translate into physiological differences between the sexes in characteristics such as energetic demands or immune response. Allocosa brasiliensis shows a reversal in the sex roles and sexual size dimorphism that would be expected for spiders.

Sexual behavior, cannibalism, and mating plugs as sticky traps in the orb weaver spider Leucauge argyra (Tetragnathidae).

Unpublished field observations in Leucauge argyra, a tropical orb weaver spider, suggest the occurrence of conspicuous mating plugs that could reduce or prevent remating attempts. Otherwise, the sexual behavior of this species remains unknown. The aims of this study were to describe the courtship behavior and copulation in L.

Behavioural evidence of male volatile pheromones in the sex-role reversed wolf spiders Allocosa brasiliensis and Allocosa alticeps.

The use of chemical signals in a sexual context is widespread in the animal kingdom. Most studies in spiders report the use of female pheromones that attract potential sexual partners. Allocosa brasiliensis and Allocosa alticeps are two burrowing wolf spiders that show sex-role reversal.